The Humanitarian Series: Reflection on Philippines Part 2

"We're going to Tacloban city?!?! Where the streets are filled with dead bodies and debri, stores are looted, and our safety is questioned"... so we heard. I thought my parents were going to freak out. I couldn't reach them with this hotel's inconsistent wifi. Maybe that was a good thing. I had asked a family friend to relay the message & to say that I love them (did I even write a Will?)

Not knowing where specifically we were heading, my teammates and I bought duffle bags and tons of baby wipes (possibly no bath/shower). I re-packed my bags 8 times in Manila (can't you tell that I was nervous & excited). We met the rest of the group at the airport at 5am. Our humanitarian team grew from 7 to 30 people. After a 7- hour journey by plane and speed boat, we arrived at the western most island and region called Leyte.

(Map is courtesy of Wikimedia.org)

We were doing relief work on 2 towns outside of the city since these places have yet to receive help with all the attention in Tacloban city. We were the first responders one week after the typhoon hit. We set up stations (registration, triage, counseling, children's safe space, medical consult, dental, and pharmacy) at a park near the municipal hall. In the road, a huge truck full of sacks of food were distributed to the community. I was working as triage, taking vitals and recording chief complaints. I saw patients in a park bench until the afternoon where the sun scorched under 90 degree weather. I looked at the crowds - some wounded, barefooted, and definitely tired; standing, waiting under the heat. 

My team leader regularly checked on me to make sure I was drinking water and not be dehydrated. Finally, I took shelter at a corner under a gazebo and the crowd followed and encircled me. From 9am-5pm, none of us stopped working and I almost forgot to eat lunch until I started feeling a little off kilter to which I asked the patients if I take a break to drink water. "You should get something to eat." Despite that they haven't eaten in 3 days, they are the ones who suggested that I eat. I felt humbled. We were instructed to never eat in front of them (at least lunch). How could I even leave these people. I told them that I could keep going if I could just eat a granola bar on the spot. They were so kind that they let me. I cracked a joke in Tagalog to lift their spirits in the interim. We treated a little over 300 adults, children, and teens. No one left their spot in line; no one complained - they all had smiles. That was the resilience of Filipinos. 

(Photos are courtesy of the team members and the official photographer of the team.)

My team leader encountered a mother. "My daughter is in the states. Can you please let her know that I am ok?" She gave her daughter's contact info in a piece of paper and sure enough when we got internet connection, her daughter was contacted and was so thankful to us. He also sat on a bench with a young boy who spoke English. The boy told him the story of how he watched his siblings and his father be swept by the current and to their death. He was traumatized, but at the same time talking it out was his release of pain. My team leader had no words to soothe his agony. He just gave a listening ear and prayed for the young boy.